After Concerns He Was All Through, La Quinta’s Kuzmic Is an All-Star : Baseball: He comes back from broken hip last season to set the county record for RBIs, earn a spot in tonight’s game.

For La Quinta’s Craig Kuzmic, bouncing back from this one was easy.

Yeah, he made three errors against Pico Rivera El Rancho in the Southern Section Division III semifinals. Sure, one opened the door for El Rancho to tie the score in the bottom of the seventh.

Kuzmic shrugged it off and knocked in his third run of the game in the ninth to give the Aztecs a 10-8 lead. He then made an error in the bottom of the inning.

“I was up, then down, then up, then down,” said Kuzmic, a senior shortstop. “But it all worked out.”

Kuzmic is a little more driven than his apparently nonchalant attitude portrays. He knows the downs can be a whole lot worse than booting a ground ball.

A year ago, Kuzmic’s season was interrupted when he broke his hip in March. He returned in time to be part of the Aztecs’ Division II championship run but felt as if he was along for the ride.

This year, Kuzmic was much more involved. He hit .406 and set an Orange County record with 41 runs batted in. He also hit 12 home runs, one shy of the county record.

Those numbers got him a spot on the south roster for tonight’s Orange County All-Star game in Glover Stadium. They also got him a second championship ring, one he said he did more to earn.

“I knew I was contributing when I came back last season,” Kuzmic said. “But I felt I could do more. This season, I did. I hit home runs, drove in runs . . . all that good stuff.”

Stuff, some thought, he might never do again.

Kuzmic transferred from Los Amigos before last year, but his career stopped seven games into the season. He came up with the bases loaded against Loara and hit a ground ball to short. That was the last time that day Coach Dave Demarest saw his shortstop standing.

“I looked to see where the ball went, then looked back, and I didn’t see Craig,” Demarest said. “Then I heard him yelling.”

Kuzmic had taken a step, then collapsed. He had broken his hip, which pulled the muscles with it. He was taken to the hospital, where he was told his season was over.

“All I remember was hitting the ball, then not feeling the ground,” Kuzmic said. “All I could move was my feet. That’s when I got scared.”

Said Demarest: “They thought he did the same thing Bo Jackson did at first. I figured we couldn’t count on him for at least the season.”

Kuzmic thought otherwise.

“After a couple weeks, I saw how the team was doing, and decided I really wanted to play in CIF,” Kuzmic said.

So he started his rehab early, riding a stationary bike and lifting weights. With two weeks left in the season, he told the doctor he wanted to play. The doctor, Kuzmic said, was a bit skeptical.

Because the injury had involved the muscles, Kuzmic was told he would not play for at least a year, maybe longer. The rehabilitation was expected to take four to six weeks.

“He put me through some tough tests,” Kuzmic said. “The last one I had to hop up and down on the leg to see if the hip would break again right there. It was really weird.”

No stranger than Kuzmic coming back.

Kuzmic returned with three games left in the regular season. He was used as a pinch-hitter once, then put back in the starting lineup. The Aztecs had 14 consecutive victories, but Demarest thought the move was worth the risk.

“He seemed ready to go,” Demarest said. “I wanted him to be a part of it.”

Kuzmic hit only .215. He also made an error in the championship game against West Torrance.

“He got a chance to play for a ring,” Demarest said. “But it was in no way a reflection on the type of player Craig is.”

Kuzmic set out to change perceptions. He continued his weight lifting, the first time he had participated in a weight program. It had an impact.

Kuzmic hit his first home run early in the season against San Clemente. They then came in bunches.

He hit two against Los Amigos and drove in seven runs. He had two homers and four RBIs against Bolsa Grande. He hit two more in the second game against the Matadors, giving him 10 to break the school record held by Walter Dawkins, now at USC.

“I knew I was going to come back, but I didn’t know I was going to come back stronger,” Kuzmic said. “I worked hard to make my hip stronger, and I think that’s where I got the power.”

Wherever it came from, it came in handy for La Quinta. Kuzmic hit No. 12 in the Aztecs’ first-round playoff victory over Lancaster Antelope Valley. He had eight RBIs during the playoffs.

Kuzmic came close to tying the county home-run record in the title game against Santa Margarita. In the fifth, he clubbed a ball to the warning track in center field at Anaheim Stadium that the Eagles’ Brian Griffin chased down.

It would have given the Aztecs a 5-0 lead and all but clinched the victory. Instead, La Quinta had to rally for two in the seventh to tie the score, then get four in the eighth for an 8-4 victory.

Kuzmic was 0 for 3 in the game. But it didn’t matter. There are worse things.

“We won this as a team,” Kuzmic said. “That’s all that matters.”

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Orange County All-Star Game

* When: Tonight

* Time: 6

* Where: Glover Stadium, Anaheim

* Teams: Fountain Valley’s Ron La Ruffa coaches the south; El Dorado’s Steve Gullotti coaches the north.